A Commando's Redemption
by organicorbust
Summary: Axton struggles with the loss of his closest friend until a last Echo message sends him on a galaxy-spanning quest. C&C always accepted!
1. Too Late To Say Goodbye

Axton had seen a movie like this once.

He remembered watching the grainy footage on Jubael III, projected up onto a dirty bedsheet by a modified Echo his unit had scrambled together. The plot was pretty simple. Guy meets girl, girl gets killed, guy takes revenge on the guys who killed girl for the rest of the film. He didn't really like the movie, he remembered. He thought it was too cheesy. After a long day of blasting his way through a shantytown of anti-Dahl rebels, watching on-screen gunplay wasn't very exciting. Axton had seen a movie like this, alright.

But there wasn't anybody to get revenge on now.

Now, all he had of her was a tattoo on his arm. A hand clutching a ball of energy, right next to a skull, a hawk, and a tire burning rubber.

It had been a year since the Calypsos had tried to become gods. A year since the Vault Thieves had stopped them.

A year since Maya had died.

At first he didn't believe it. He'd seen the broadcast-who hadn't?-but he wouldn't believe, couldn't believe, she was gone. She was a Siren. A warrior goddess. She was the greatest of the warriors who'd killed Jack. She wasn't as sneaky as Zer0, not as gung-ho as Salvador, not as spunky as Gaige, and definitely not as bloodthirsty as Krieg, but when the Vault Hunters sparred, it was usually Maya who won, and she never had to use her powers. Of course she wasn't dead, he thought. How could some half-Siren psycho kid kill one of the most powerful women in the galaxy?

He'd looked for her for six months before he realized she was really gone.

After that he was angry. He'd torn through bandit after bandit, not even bothering to plan it out. He just walked into bandit camps, threw his sentries down, and hurt people. He wanted the bandits to feel everything he felt. Every ounce of hurt, every drop of grief. He didn't even find it fun anymore.

He did that for a few months before it all just became a chore.

Now, the mighty Commando, slayer of the Warrior, the Leviathan, Piston, even Terramorphous, couldn't even muster up the strength to slay the flies that landed on his arm.

He set his empty glass down on the bar and ran a hand through greasy, unkempt hair. He couldn't even recognize himself in the mirror anymore. He had a rat's nest of a beard, long hair that touched his neck. Before her death, he never would have allowed that. Something from his Dahl days, some vestige of military discipline, wouldn't let him. Now, he just looked pathetic.

He checked his Echo, ordering another beer as he watched his balance go from $97 to $92. He would have to run another job soon. Guarding some Vladof shipment, maybe, or bringing in some wanted criminal.

"After this, you're done, pal." said the bartender. "Finish that glass and then get the hell out, you good-for-nothing bum." Axton didn't even reply. The barkeep was right, after all.

Then his Echo dinged as it received a message.

"Zer0...? Been a while..." he muttered under his breath as he tapped on it. He heard the Assassin's voice, still distinct after all these years.

"Hello, my old friend. / I was just on Athenas. / A monk gave me this." the audio recording said. Axton almost smiled as he sipped his beer. He remembered the cryptic way his old friend talked. He hadn't heard his friend's voice since they'd left Pandora, making their own way across the galaxy.

"It seems that Maya / left a personal message / before she left us." Axton instantly slammed his glass onto the bar in shock.

"I hope this message finds you in good health." Zer0 finished, speaking normally as he did from time to time. "Farewell, my friend."

Zer0 had hardly finished his message before Axton was up and out of the bar. He remembered the last time he heard Maya's voice, a few months before the Calypsos had come into power. He had been in-system, hunting a spacefaring pirate warlord who'd hijacked a Tediore gunship, but had decided to make a pit-stop on Athenas to see her again. She had given him a tour of the planet while they reminisced about the good old days on Pandora.

Axton practically exploded out of the bar, finding a wall under an awning to lean against as his hands covered his Echo from the rain. He looked at the device, seeing an attached file Zer0 had sent him. He went to tap on it and noticed his finger was shaking.

"Hey, Ax. Remember me?" he heard her say. "If you're getting this message, I'm not around anymore. Maybe you knew already, maybe you didn't, it doesn't matter. It's not weird that I'm doing this, right? I mean, I'm sure you've done the same thing. The whole 'message from beyond the grave'. I know Gaige did. I heard her recording some the first night at Sanctuary. Not sure about the others, though. Can you imagine Zer0's? Maybe he'd finally tell us what his whole deal is. Right now, I'm watching your piece-of-crap ship take off from Bluesong Spaceport, out to find some pirate nutjob. Give 'em hell. Anyway, I wanted to say thank you, Ax. For being the best friend I've ever had. I really appreciated every second I spent with you."

Axton started to choke up. His mouth was dry, and the corners of his eyes watered. He fought back tears. God, was he crying?

"It's been lonely up here on Athenas. I have Ava, and I have the monks, but honestly...I miss it. Pandora, I mean. The bandits, the skags, even Hyperion. All this...'enlightenment' stuff, it's just not comparable. I miss the Raiders. I miss Sanctuary, I miss the old gang. I miss you, Ax, and I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this until after I was gone."

He heard her voice waver a little bit. This message was just as hard for her to write as it was for him to hear.

"Try not to take this too hard, alright? I don't want you to feel bad. And if anybody asks...I went out in a blaze of glory. Big explosions, tons of dead bad guys."

He tried not to think about how she would react if she saw him now.

"I guess I better get going. It's late. Can't have the rest of the monks thinking I broke my vow of chastity." She laughed a bit. "I may be gone, but don't feel too bad. I'm still watching your back, from wherever I am. You know what they say. Sirens never die."

There was a few seconds of silence in the message. She was trying to summon up the strength to end the recording.

"Goodbye, Ax." she said as the message ended.

It took minutes for him to stop sobbing. Slumped against the wall of some ammo shop, in the middle of the night, with rain falling all around him as hot tears stung his cheeks, he looked nothing like the hero he once was.

Then...he remembered those last few words Maya said to him.

Sirens never die.

_Sirens never die._

He remembered those same words from his childhood back on Hieronymous. From a story that parents told to get excited children to go to sleep. A story about a Siren queen who used an Eridian device to come back from the dead. He hadn't thought about it in years. But...he'd seen enough weird shit in this galaxy. Extradimensional monsters, ancient godlike alien civilizations...hell, compared to sealing away things like the Destroyer, coming back from the dead would be easy. He put away his Echo, wiping his face off and stepping out into the rain.

He would bring her back. He had to.

* * *

The next morning, the security guard at Altan IV spaceport stared at Axton, his jaw dropped and arms limp as his side.

"Holy shit! You...you're Axton! You killed Handsome Jack!" the guard said.

Axton looked at him and smiled.

"Yeah. I did." he said. "Got any old ships I can borrow? I need to go somewhere. Got an old friend I need to see." Axton replied.

Twenty minutes later, Axton the Commando, Hero of Pandora, blasted out of the spaceport's holding garage, admiring himself in the reflection of the ship's window, his hands on the controls and a Dahl assault rifle at his side. He ran a hand over his clean-shaven face, smiling as he passed a blue nebula. He could almost see her in it.

"I'm comin' for ya, gorgeous. See you soon." he said to himself.


	2. Long Way From Home

"Alright...let's see what this old hunk of junk has on her." Axton said, his hands fiddling with the starfighter's dashboard. He watched as a few messages popped up on the glass screen in front of him.

WELCOME BACK, BUCK.

Axton made a mental note to change that name later.

LAST FLIGHT: 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS, 19 DAYS.

The ship had been in starport custody for longer than he'd thought. At first, the starport owner was a more than a little upset at the idea of somebody taking corporate property, but the fact that Axton had saved the six galaxies on more than one occasion plus the assault rifle he had slung over his back were good negotiators.

ALL SYSTEMS OPERATIONAL.  
WEAPONS SYSTEMS: TWO VLADOF KATARINA-PATTERN ROTOR CANNONS, ONE HYPERION SILVER BULLET-CLASS HEAVY PLASMA BLASTER.

Axton raised his eyebrow in approval. He'd been on the receiving end of each of those guns on more than one occasion.

COMMS SYSTEMS: ONE MALIWAN DISSEMINATION-CLASS TRANS-GALACTIC ECHOCASTER.  
AI INTERFACE: ONE DAHL HAILER-CLASS ON-SHIP ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.  
YOUR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAS BEEN DESIGNATED: PAT.

He wasn't familiar with this class of AI. Dahl had phased them out for a newer model by the time he'd joined up.

"Pat, are you operational?"

"Yes, Buck. I am operational." he heard a pleasant female voice, not unlike Hyperion's, say over the ship's speakers.

"Great. Pat-what kind of music do we have?"

"We have 943 songs dating back to the days of Old Earth. Your most played song is...Renegade, by the band known as...Styx." Axton raised his eyebrow again. This ship had a hodgepodge of military-grade corporate equipment, from the weapons to the comms network to the onboard intelligence. The previous owner was clearly an adventurer of some kind. A Vault Hunter, maybe? Could be, but unlikely. But then again, the ship and its systems were far above a typical mercenary's pay grade. Whoever this Buck character was, he must have been raking in a ton of cash to fund a ship like this. He also was a fan of rock music, apparently.

"What kind of a name is Sticks? Never mind. Pat, link my Echo unit up with the comms system and tune in to frequency CRM-50N, please." Axton ordered the AI. He didn't know if the Raiders were still using that Echo frequency. It was a bit obvious, he had to admit, but it was an easy frequency to remember.

"Yes, Buck. Processing...done. Your Echo has been linked. Shall I play the frequency for you now?" Pat asked.

"Sure, let's hear it." Axton replied.

He listened over the speakers, waiting to catch some piece of radio chatter.

"...and then I said, directory? I don't even have a director-A! Ha! Ha ha ha ha ha, oh..." he heard a familiar over-enthusiastic robot say. Axton smiled. The Raiders hadn't changed it after all. And after eight years away from Pandora, he had to admit he even missed Claptrap.

"Hey, Claptrap." Axton said, and the little robot shrieked in surprise.

"AAAH! Minion! Don't surprise your master like that!" Claptrap scolded.

"Axton! My old friend! I've missed you so!" Axton heard an old Russian man say. "You haven't bought from me in eight years, you cheapskate! Explain yourself." Marcus finished, his cheery demeanor going to serious in a moment.

"Nice to hear from you too, Marcus. Is Tannis there?" Axton replied.

"Well, I WAS just using Eridian techonology to attempt to create a second Big Bang, but I suppose I have time for tedious, mind-killing chitchat. What do you need, Axton?" Tannis said.

"Can you tell me anything about the Siren queen known as Jocasta?" he questioned.

"Siren? Isn't Jocasta a moon, Axton?" Marcus asked.

"Wait. Moon? I thought it was a band." Ellie interjected.

"I thought she was a / character from one of those / crappy Space Wars flicks." Zer0 chimed in. Axton was surprised-he didn't know Zer0 was onboard the Sanctuary III now.  
If awkward silence could kill, every Crimson Raider would have died. They had five precious seconds of quiet before the comm channel exploded with arguments. It seemed like everybody aboard the Sanctuary III had their own opinions. He heard Moxxi, Vaughn, even Zed all fighting over each other.

"There is NO WAY it's a-"

"-ridiculous, a friggin' moon, I oughta-"

"-honestly thought they were pretty good, even if their label-"

"-librarian / from the bad prequel movies-"

"-you can't possibly be THAT ignorant-"

"-stop getting so hot and bothered, sweetie, it's not a-"

"-WILL YOU SLAVERING SYCOPHANTS PLEASE BE SILENT?" Tannis screeched, silencing everybody on the comms network.

"Yes, Axton. I can tell you that unlike most Sirens, there is absolutely no concrete proof that this Jocasta woman ever existed or that her legends are the slightest bit true. I should know, because I am the only woman in history who has actually taken the time to research her." she said. "Actually, I must correct myself. There is no concrete proof of her legend except for the Vault on Hieronymous."

"Wait-there's a Vault on-"

"Hieronymous, yes. You clearly didn't study the Vault Map very hard."

"Where?"

"The Vault on Hieronymous is located...wait, this can't be right. The Vault...moved."

"Moved? Like...like what, like it just grew legs and walked away?"

"No, Axton. That's ridiculous. It's as if this Vault is not a set location. Perhaps it's a creature, like the Warrior? Or perhaps there are many different Vault on Hieronymous and this can only mark one at a time? Oh, one more thing. The Vault's current location is also currently 2,192 feet under the ocean."

"Oh, great. Can you send me its coordinates, please?"

"Only if you promise to bring me every shard of Eridian history you can find."

"...sure, Tannis. I promise."

"Great!" she said, with surprisingly genuine joy. "I'm transmitting them over your Echo log. Try not to die! I want to see what kind of things the Eridians would hide in a moving vault! The possibilities!" Tannis finished.

"Thanks for the help." Axton said.

"Erm, Axton? What are you planning to do on Hieronymous?" Marcus questioned.

"So much for 'low prices and no questions asked.'"Axton grinned. "I'll stop by the Sanctuary III and tell you all about it when I'm done. Axton out." he said, switching frequencies on his Echo. Suddenly, he got an alert. An unknown contact was trying to call him. He accepted it. Why not?

"You've reached Axton, slayer of the Warrior and handsomest man in the six galaxies. What can I do ya for?" he asked, kicking his feet up on the starfighter's dashboard.

"Ummm...Axton? This is Ava. I think we met, on Athenas?"

"Oh. Yeah...I remember you. What do you need? Want me to tell you another story?" he asked. When he'd visited Maya, a younger Ava had constantly pestered him to tell her stories until Maya shooed her off.

"No. Well, yes. Well, kind of. Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Did you and Maya used to date?"

Axton frown, pausing for a moment. "Well...uhm, it was...yeah. Yeah, we did." he replied cautiously.

"Then why did you leave her?" Ava continued in an almost accusatory tone.

"It wasn't...look, kid, I didn't leave her, alright? After the whole Hector thing, we split up. The six of us. We all went our own way."

"Did you want her to go with you?" she asked.

"...Yeah. I did."

"Well, why didn't you ask her?"

"Because...she wanted to go to Athenas. She wanted to stay there and help people. Protect people. I've never been good at that kind of thing. When we split up, I just went back to manhunting. She had her mind made up, and I lo-" Axton caught himself. "I cared about her too much to try and keep her."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a good thirty seconds.

"I miss her, Axton." he heard her sniffle.

"So do I, kid." he replied. "But you...you're a good kid, y'know that? You helped beat the Calypsos. You're gonna make a great Vault Hunter one day. And if she were here? She'd be real proud of you."

"You mean it?"

"Sure do. I knew her better than anybody. She saw something great in you, kid. Trust me."

"Th-thanks, Axton. That really...really means a lot."

"Anytime, kiddo. Whenever you want to talk, about her or anything else, you just give me a call, alright?"

"Yeah. I will. Thanks a ton, Axton." she said, her voice audibly happier. She ended the transmission. Axton set his Echo down, leaning back in his seat, sighing deeply.

"Pat, set a course for Hieronymous."

"Course set. Estimated journey time: three days, twenty-one hours, forty-three minutes."

"Great." he groaned. "Pat?"

"Yes, Buck?"

"...Shuffle music." he said. It would be a long trip.


	3. Punchin' Bag

The dream was back.

Axton stared from behind a TV screen, watching as Troy Calypso choked the life out of her. He flashed the camera a hideous, evil sneer as his Siren tattoos flared, burning the woman out of existence. Axton pounded on the glass, screaming until his throat was raw, punching the screen until his knuckles bled. Troy just looked at him and laughed. Maya looked at him too, her eyes pleading for help, a silent scream escaping her lips as her skin turned to ash.

"What's wrong, you goddamn has-been?" Troy taunted, his hand tightening around Maya's throat. "Come on. Do something about it."

Maya's eyes fought to stay open. A hand reached out towards the screen. Towards him.

_No,_ Axton thought. _I won't lose her again._

His fist punched through the screen, sending glass flying across the floor of the Forgotten Basilica. For just a moment-a brief, glorious moment-Axton saw fear in the Calypso's eyes.

Troy dropped Maya, the fear swiftly fading from his eyes, replaced with a cocky grin.

"I never thought I'd get to kill two Vault Hunters in one day. Let's see how much blood you got in you!" Troy said, his mechanical arm throwing a right hook at Axton's face.

Axton neatly ducked under it, rolling behind the God-King. Axton reached out, grabbing a handful of cord from the mechanical arm and tugging hard. It came out with a satisfying pop, spurting oil onto the floor. The arm sagged to the ground. Troy turned, a flash of anger on his face as his tattooed left arm threw a punch. Axton grabbed his hand, yanking the younger man toward him and uppercutting his exposed torso. Axton didn't talk, didn't taunt the man. He just hurt him. Even unarmed, without weapons or his trusty turret, he was still a Dahl commando. Troy wheezed, the air rushing out of him as Axton hit him again, then again, then gave him a devastating punch to the liver. Troy fell to the ground in the pool of oil, coughing and trying to crawl away with his one good arm. Axton wouldn't let him. He reached out, grabbing a handful of Troy's long hair and bringing his knee into the bridge of Troy's nose. He rolled the suffering half-Siren over, planting a knee on his back, taking his head in both hands and slamming his face onto the stone floor over and over again. He grunted with exertion, driving soft flesh onto unforgiving stone even as the man drowned in a mixture of oil and his own blood. Troy spluttered the horrible mixture out of his mangled mouth, flailing with his left arm, trying to grab something, anything, to get the commando off of him. He never got the chance.

Troy Calypso, God-King of the bandits, had been interrupted, humiliated, and brutally beaten to death on his own livestream. Tyreen screamed, tossing Ava to the ground and teleporting away.

Axton panted with exertion, standing and approaching Maya, who still lay where she fell. He knelt by her side, brushing a lock of blue hair out of her face. Her eyes fluttered open, a weak smile spreading across her blue lips.

"Axton?" she managed as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's alright." he told her, flashing her a grin. "I'm here."

The two Vault Hunters stared into each others' eyes, both of them leaning in for a kiss. Ava looked on, smiling to herself. Maya had never told her about her and Axton, but she'd always had an idea.

They pulled away, and Maya smirked.

"Axton? Is that thing still streaming?" she said, looking over at the camera-bot, which hovered nearby, camera focused on the pair.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

"I think it was about time everybody knew, anyway."

He laughed. "You're probably right. Once we're done here...you wouldn't want to go out for dinner with me, would you?"

"I'd like that, Buck." Maya said. "Buck." she repeated. _"Buck."_

His eyes opened and he was alone.

"Buck. We've arrived." Pat said, her mechanized voice blaring over the intercom.

Axton sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the cot and standing up. He walked to the cockpit, staring out at the planet of Hieronymous through the window.  
The dream was different this time. Most nights, he never broke the glass. He watched, helpless, as Troy choked the life out of Maya. He'd never fought Troy, never won. Never kissed her again.

He put a hand on the glass, reaching out towards his home planet.

_I'm coming for you, gorgeous_. he thought to himself. _I'll never let anybody hurt you again._

He could almost hear her yelling at him.

_I'm not a damsel in distress, Axton._ _I can handle myself._ she'd say.

_I know, I know._ he'd reply. _But I'm a guy. Can't help it._

Then he'd kiss her underneath the Pandora sunset and everything would be alright again.


	4. Same Ol'

"Hands above your head, scum! You are under arrest for the crimes of pillaging, perfidy, violating the principles of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity, and several other crimes, along with desertion from the Dahl military!"

Axton sighed, complying with the four heavily-armed guards aiming their assault rifles at him. He'd been accosted the moment his starship landed. Five Dahl gunships had their guns trained on his ship as soon as he entered the star system. The owner of the spaceport back on Altan IV had sold Axton out to Dahl the moment the commando left his office. Surprisingly, he wasn't shot on sight. Instead, he'd been blindfolded, handcuffed, and shoved in the cargo compartment of a hovertank. He lay on the cold metal floor for twenty minutes.

"Do I at least get a phone call?" he joked.

"Shut up." the guards said.

He felt the tank land. The guards brought him to his feet, shoving him forward. After a long walk and a five minute elevator ride, he was forced to sit in a surprisingly comfortable chair. The guards cuffed him to wooden armrests and took his blindfold off.

In front of him sat a man in an expensive grey suit sitting at a mahogany desk. He wore aviator sunglasses and a handlebar mustache framed his lips. The man wore a white ten-gallon hat and had a diamond bolo tie on.

"Well, howdy, Axton." the man said. His voice was rough, coarse, as if he ate sandpaper at every meal. He had an accent, reminicient of the way Jakobs men talked, but a little less refined. "Call me the Warden. Let's you and I make a deal, huh?"

Axton frowned. He saw the megapolis cityscape of Hieronymous through the large window behind the man, saw Dahl gunships and weapons platforms in the sky.

"Now...I know what yer thinkin'. Why would ah ever make a deal with you, ah deserted from yer military years ago, all that." he began. "Truth is, Axton, you're markitable. Yer like a folk hero to them civvies out there." the man said, gesturing to the window. "You came from nothin'. Just a little scabby orphan kid, slummin' it out on the dirty streets. You signed up with Dahl. And then? You opened a friggin' Vault."

The man snapped his fingers and a holo-projector descended from the ceiling, projecting a screen.

"You ain't gettin' it, are ya? Tell ya what, I think it'd do better if'n I just showed ya." the man said, gesturing to the projector.

The screen showed a large table, a Dahl assault rifle on it. A hand-Axton's hand-reached out and grabbed it.

"When I killed Piston, what brand did I choose?" Axton heard himself say. The screen showed a clip of the final battle with Piston at Torgue's arena. Axton slid under the burly man, quickly swiping a knee out from under him and putting a burst of rifle fire in his back.

"When I defeated Handsome Jack, what kind of gun did I have in my hands?" He saw himself smash Jack's face with the butt of his rifle, knocking him to the ground and mag-dumping every bullet he had into Jack's chest.

"When I blew the Warrior to hell, who did I trust to back me up?" The screen displayed Axton holding his rifle in one hand, posing dramatically with one foot propped up on the Warrior's stone head as Lilith and Maya lay on the ground, clutching his legs like damsels in some corny action B-movie.

_That's not really how any of that happened,_ he thought, _but they sure do know how to make propaganda._

"When you open the next Vault, what kind of gun do you want pointed at the rest of the universe?" the simulated Axton said. "Dahl."

The promo ad ended. Axton raised an eyebrow.

"Them special effects boys know what they're doin', huh? Looks just like you." the Warden said.

"What, so you want me to be an advertising guy? I figured you'd shoot me after, y'know, the deserting thing." he said.

"You ain't no ordinary deserter anymore, son." said the Warden. "The brains at the top been thinkin' a' ways we could use yore, ahem, unexcused leave, to our advantage. Take a look." the man finished as the holo-projector threw up another image, this one of Armond Dahl, Stanton Dahl's grandson, shaking hands with Axton and presenting him with a medal.

"Ah gotta say, this one was a stroke a' genius. What the ads gon' say is, you didn't really desert. Goin' tah Pandora an' killin' Jack and the Warrior was more of a...secret mission type a' thing." the Warden said. "Which brings us ta why yer here."

Axton raised an eyebrow.

"We seen what happens when corporations like us try an' open a Vault. Hyperion, Atlas, Maliwan. Hell, we even tried it ourselves. Every time we think we're close, somehow a coupla Vault Hunters beat us to the punch and kick us out. Every damn time. So we here at Dahl figgered, why are we fightin' em in the firs' place? Number one, goin' up against folks like you and yours-for the boys on the ground, it's damn near suicide. Number two, it's jus' good marketing. You saw how Hyperion practically had a monopoly on weapons dealin' after they said Jack opened the Vault. Can you imagine the ad campaigns? You blowin' some monster's head off, Dahl gun in yer hands. Let's get down ta brass tacks, here, Axton: we want ya ta' find Vaults fer Dahl." the Warden said.

Axton frowned. "And if I don't?"

The Warden guffawed. "Then we kill ya, son." he said.

"Alright, fair point. What's in it for me?"

"Well, let's see. Yer life, for one. Your pick of any Dahl firearms in the galaxy. A nice, cushy home on a paradise planet of your choice. And..." he said. "...let's say...point oh-oh-one of all quarterly profits?"

The Warden pulled a contract and a pen out of his desk, sliding it towards the Commando. The guards uncuffed him, keeping their barrels trained on his head.

"All ya gotta do is sign yer name."

Axton took a long look at the paper, and the four armed guards behind him.

"I've got one condition." Axton said.

"Shoot." the Warden replied.

"I want to open the Vault on Hieronymous first."

"Done."

Axton grinned, taking the pen and signing the paper.


	5. Come A Little Closer

"Alright...I see one. Red mohawk. Orange pants. Sitting on the barrel." Axton said, staring down the scope of his Dahl sniper rifle.

"They all have orange pants, Axton." Maya said, peering down at the same bandit camp through the scope of her Maliwan rifle.

"Nuh-uh. That one with the fire axe's got brown pants."

"I think that's mud."

"I think his pants are just brown."

"Just take the shot already. I want to see how bad you mess this up." Maya elbowed Axton, trying to throw off his aim, a smirk plastered across her face.

"Will you quit it? You keep doing that, I'm gonna miss." he said, shooing her off.

"That's the point."

"Cut it out." he said, his brow furrowed in concentration.

She faked a yawn. "This is taking too long, I'm getting tired."

A loud crack sounded throughout Frostburn Canyon. The pair watched as Axton's bullet tore through the psycho's hand and the can of soda he was drinking. He screamed in pain, falling to the ground as his wrist spurted blood.

"Okay, okay. That was mediocre." Maya said, flashing him a grin. "My turn. Let's see...big guy, he's got a weird looking gun, has some gas canisters on his belt. Wearing a mask with a bunch of nails sticking out of it."

"I see him. Go for it." Axton said. Maya took a breath, lining up her shot, when Axton slapped her rifle barrel to the side. "Don't miss!"

Maya pulled away from her scope, shooting him a glare. He just gave her that impish grin of his.

"Don't dish out what you can't take." he said innocently.

She frowned, putting her eye to the scope again. The bandits were alert now, accusing each other of shooting the psycho. Suddenly, the big bruiser's gas canisters blew up, lighting him on fire. The bruiser screamed, instinctively pulling the trigger of his gun, lighting up three marauders next to him.

"Hah! Beat that." Maya exclaimed.

"I think I already did." Axton retorted.

"I just killed four bandits with a single shot, and you won? Right. You didn't even kill him, he's still screaming and rolling around down there." Maya replied.

"It's not about killing. It's about the best shot. Style counts. Wait-what were we even betting on again?"

"I...can't remember."

"Okay, new bet. If you win, I'll..." Axton paused. He didn't really know what to bet. "...I'll make you...dinner."

"Axton, if what you made last night on the Southern Shelf is what you call dinner, that's not much of a reward."

"Uh-uh. That's different. That was field rations, not a home-cooked meal. I'm actually not that bad of a cook, you know."

"You killed a bullymong with a fire gun and said it was done. And it was still undercooked!"

"Yeah, well, I was low on ammo. Sue me."

"Fine. But it had better be the best dinner I've ever had."

"Okay, and if I win?"

She laughed. "Not gonna happen. How about this. You tell me what you want if you win."

"A date." he said.

"A date?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun. We can just go to Deathskull McKilldeath's drive-in movie theater. I hope you like slasher flicks and finger food. And when I say finger food, I mean..."

"Oh, shut up!" she said playfully. "Fine. A date."

"You know, I wasn't being serious, but since you agreed..." he teased.

"Ugh, you're hopeless. It's your turn, by the way."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He looked down the sights again. "I'm lookin' at...the one with the hand necklace."

"Aw, he was my next pick!"

"Cry me a river, darlin'." He switched his rifle to burst-fire mode.

He pulled the trigger, and three bullets slammed into the psycho. The first two went straight through the fingers of the severed hand on a rope the psycho wore around his neck, neatly punching through the index, ring, and pinky fingers. The last shot went clean between his eyes. The psycho fell to the ground, stone dead, his necklace flipping off the bandits around him.

"Let's see you top that one." he cheered.

"Pff, easy. Watch and-wait, did you seriously just call me 'darlin'?"

She pulled away from the scope, an unamused look on her face as she looked at him.

"Yeah. What's the big deal?"

"Don't you think that's a little objectifying?" she said.

"Maya, I'm smart enough to know that if I actually objectified you, you'd...melt my brain with lightning, or something."

"I didn't mean anything by it. It's...it's like a pet name, y'know, like 'love' or 'honey'. Like how Jakobs people say 'partner'."

"Don't do it again." she threatened.

She flashed him a friendly smile. "I'm messing with you. It's kind of adorable, actually. Like how you call your turret your girlfriend."

"I'm not adorable. I'm a badass." Axton smirked.

"Sure you are." she said, staring back down her scope. Axton's eyes lingered on her face. _She's so pretty when she's killing things,_ he thought. "Let's see...he's got a midget on his shoulders, and he's carrying two AR's."

"Good luck. That guy looks like he eats rusty nails for breakfast." Axton said, looking back through his scope.

Maya took a deep breath in, lining up the shot and pulling the trigger. Her incendiary round shot though the air, entering the goliath's helmet through his visor slit. It ricocheted a few times, loud 'ping' sounds filling the air. Then, the helmet came off.

They both pulled away from their rifle scopes, looking at each other.

"Whoops." Maya said.

"Let's...let's get out of here. I don't wanna be around when he's done with the guys down there." Axton replied.

"Agreed."

The two Vault Hunters stood up, slowly walking backwards from the scene before taking off into a jog. They skidded to a stop when a headless midget corpse flew from behind them, splattering against the rock of the canyon wall.

_**"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY, ASSHOLES!"**_ they heard the enraged Goliath scream. In his enormous hands he held a nomad aloft, tearing him in two and dropping him before leaping after the pair. They were about three hundred yards away, but when running from a goliath, they might as well have been within arm's reach.

"Shit shit shit shitshitshit!" Axton said, switching to his assault rifle. He turned quickly, firing a quick burst at the enraged goliath who hurtled through the air like a vengeful comet. He landed just a few feet behind the Vault Hunters, sending a shockwave outwards from the impact crater. The enormous goliath grabbed Axton in one hand, laughing maniacally as he raised him into the air. The Commando bayoneted his arm over and over to little effect. He put the barrel of his rifle right up against the goliath's wrist, mag-dumping everything he had in an attempt to free himself. The hand relented and dropped Axton just as the other hand shot forward in a backhand. Axton had gotten lucky, he knew. That blow would have taken his head and most of his torso off. He landed in a roll, dodging and weaving as the goliath punched the ground, attempting to smash him into a pulp. Maya, for her part, had been blasting the goliath with her shock SMG, but it didn't do much besides tickle.

"Can you PLEASE DO SOMETHING, MAYA?!" Axton screamed, narrowly avoiding a punch that would have turned him into jelly. Then the goliath smacked him, sending him flying at the canyon wall. He hit the rock hard, screaming in pain. The goliath ran at his fallen form, aiming a punch for his head. Shaken but not defeated, Axton still held his rifle, blasting the goliath and disregarding the pain. The monster raised a fist, throwing a punch at the commando with murderous intent, but stopped cold. A strange purple aura enveloped the bandit.

Maya grimaced, grunting with exertion as she held the bandit at bay.

_If looks could kill,_ Axton thought,_ she would have killed him and his entire immediate family with that glare._

The goliath made a noise like he was choking and suddenly his exposed skull slid even further out of his body. Axton saw neck bones, then shoulder blades, then vertebrae as Maya ripped the goliath's skeleton out of his body, nervous system attached. The Commando's eyes widened as the goliath's body slumped to the ground, little more than meat, as Maya sent the skeleton crashing into the canyon wall, shattering it into a million pieces and showering Axton with bone and gore.

Maya ran up to him, the pain just now catching up to him. He had a couple of broken ribs at the very least, and he was having trouble breathing. He'd never had a punctured lung before, but he imagined he had one now.

"Axton. Can you breathe? Talk to me." Maya said, kneeling down and resting a hand on his shoulder. Axton took fast, shallow breaths, trying to keep air in his system. His hands shook and he put them on Maya's shoulders as he gasped feebly.

Maya put a hand on his chest instinctively, and her tattoos began to glow with an almost angelic blue light. Axton saw her fingers glowing where they touched his chest. He felt his shattered ribs fix themselves, flesh re-knitting itself together. He even felt his bruises fade away.

He took in a deep breath. "Holy shit." he said, panting. "Holy shit, I almost died."

The two shared a look.

"Holy _shit_, since when can you do that!" he exclaimed.

"I don't know!" she replied.

He flashed her a relieved smile. "Well, I appreciate the save. But you were also the reason that I almost died in the first place, so we'll call it even."

She grinned back. "I said I was sorry."

"Actually, you didn't. Now can you please help me up?" Axton said, offering her his hand. She took it, helping him from the ground. "Thanks, darlin'."

She giggled and he glared at her.

"It's not funny."

"It's kind of funny, Axton."

"Not really."

As she helped him stand up, he felt his legs weakening underneath him. She let him sling his arm around her shoulder, helping him walk back to their runner. Apparently, Roland had a job for them back at Sanctuary. Something about the Vault Key and Tundra Express.

"Since you almost got me killed, Maya, I think you owe me that date."

Maya looked at him, flashing him an amused smirk.

"I'd like that, Axton." she said.

* * *

That night, the pair lay next to each other on a blanket on the roof of a Sanctuary building, Maya watching with one raised eyebrow as Axton smacked a modified Echo unit, trying to get it to work.

"I swear on my life this thing works. I used it in the middle of an artillery strike! I don't know why it wouldn't work now."

"So far, this has been the worst date of my entire life, Axton." Maya said.

"But you said it was your first date ever, which would also make it the best." he replied.

"Fair point, but it still sucks."

"Will you please just give me a moment?" he said, smacking it again. Suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the modified projector on the Echo, beaming title credits up on a nearby building wall. "There. It's starting."

_**800 DEGREES PICTURES PRESENTS**_

_** JOHNNY WHILSHIRE IN**_

_** BLOOD WAR V: THE BLOOD IS BACK**_

"God, I hate action movies so much." Maya complained, a sarcastic grin on her face.

"Maybe you wouldn't hate them so much if you paid attention instead of talking the whole time." Axton replied, nudging her with his elbow.

"You've talked more than me so far." she said, elbowing him back.

"Shush!" He shoved her shoulder.

"You shush!" She shoved him back.

He smiled, playfully shoving her again. She put a hand out, trying to intercept his shove, and their hands came together. They looked at each other, their fingers entwining together. They both blushed a bit, Maya's cheeks growing noticeably redder than his. They both instinctively leaned in, their eyes closing as their lips touched for the first time.

* * *

Axton missed the way her blue lipstick tasted. He missed the warm touch of her hands when she healed a bullet wound or a broken arm. He missed the way she furrowed her brow when deciding between weapons. He missed the way her hair smelled like citrus fruit even after a gunfight. He missed the way she would lay her head on his chest and stare up at the night sky. He missed her walk, her smile, her touch, the way she snorted sometimes when she laughed. He missed the times they had gone out without the other Vault Hunters to watch movies on the roof of Crimson Raider HQ. He even missed how gorgeous she looked when she was angry.

He couldn't help but think about her as he pored over file after file, examining every scrap of info he could find. After he'd signed the contract with the Warden, he requested every bit of information about the Hieronymous Vault, its Key, and Jocasta the Siren Queen that Dahl had. Considering that they already had two Vault Key fragments, it was a lot of info.

_Tannis would probably be screaming if she were here,_ he thought. _Or crying. Or both, actually._

Despite already having most of the Key, Dahl didn't actually know where the Vault was. They'd used seismographs, Eridium detectors, everything they had, but they still hadn't found it. Luckily, Axton knew where it was. But the third piece of the Vault Key? He was totally clueless. _Oh well_, he thought. _I'll read the rest tomorrow_. Axton shut the lights off, laying in the bed of his Dahl-assigned quarters. There were guards stationed outside, he knew. More to prevent him from leaving then to prevent anyone from getting in. But he wasn't leaving. Not until he'd opened the Vault. Not until he saw her again.


	6. What Makes A Good Man?

Axton grabbed a nearby rag, wiping sweat off of his forehead. He'd been in a Dahl experimental weapons development facility all day, and he needed a break. He lay the wrench on the workstation, taking a sip of a cola and sighing deeply. He'd just finished assembling his masterpiece. He had Dahl send him the parts required, racking up a few thousand dollars in costs, but he'd needed something like it to kill whatever monster lurked in the Vault. Nearby, his Echo system played Pat's voice as it read out more files on the Vault and Jocasta the Siren. He looked at the gun on the workstation, whistling in admiration. It was custom-made. He'd fitted the barrel of his old rifle, the Veruc, onto a new body. He gave it Dahl's latest dual-optic scope. He could go from red-dot sights to a long-range scope just by adjusting his hold on the rifle. It could switch between semi-auto, burst fire, and full auto. Not only that, but he'd integrated Atlas smart-bullet technology into it. It was expensive, sure, but hey-he wasn't the one paying for it. He wondered if he could press his luck even further and ask for depleted Eridium rounds.

Nearby, his sentry turret sat, its safety on so Axton could work on it in peace. Scooter, bless his heart, had made some blueprints for new and interesting designs, and Ellie had kept them, sending him the blueprints over the Echonet. Even after all this time, Scooter was still helping Vault Hunters kick ass. His turret now featured three rotating minigun barrels, able to saw a psycho in half with its sheer rate of fire. It still had the old mods, too-the missile racks, the slag bullets, the Phalanx shield and longbow technology. He just had to give it a kick-ass coat of spray paint and he'd be ready to take on the world.

"Jocasta feared but one thing. Death. After killing the Pain Emperor of Elysium, the many gnarl-beasts of the Ionian Feral Kings, the putrid hordes of the Plagueeater Clan, and even her own Siren sister Queen Blud, the only fear in her heart was of the grim reaper. She had seen too much of it, too many friends and allies fall without so much as a goodbye. And as her lover died of old age, she knew she had little time left. She had grown old, too. But she assembled the Vault Key and summoned the Vault. She entered it alone, harnessed the power of the Fist and returned with her lover, the both of them young and powerful again. She had cheated death. It is said the two lived for another two hundred years before finally dying after defending the moons of Gethsemane from a massive fleet of pirates."

"God, why does everything have to be so cryptic? Can't people just write things down?" he asked.

"They can. Apparently, the way she did these things was so mind-boggling that words could not describe them. That, or they left those parts out so that authors could interpret them their own way, to represent the foggy lens of history. If she was truly over two hundred years old when she died, she already would have had a legend by then. Perhaps she even changed the story herself, or never told anybody what she truly did?" Pat replied.

"That's ridiculous! Why would they leave all of that out! I mean..._summoning_ the Vault! What does that even mean? And the Fist, what the hell is that?" he raved.

"I do not know, Buck." Pat replied.

Axton set his cola down, shaking up a can of silver spray-paint. He gave his sentry and rifle a fresh new sheen. He grabbed yellow and black next, spraying some hazard stripes over the flatter parts of his weapons. He looked down at them, grinning.

"That looks badass." he said.

Suddenly, his Echo pinged, and he heard the Warden's voice.

"Axton! Great news. We know where the third shard a' the Key is. It's on Gethsemanny Prime, in the tomb a' the Siren Jocasta. Ah've already set up yer travel arrangements. Yer ship departs in thirty minutes. Ah hope yer achin' for a proper gunfight, cause it's lookin' like that's what yer gettin'. We sent in a team a' troops a while ago to check the place out, and all we've heard of 'em since is screamin'. Ah knew yer workin' on a new gun, but we got one we want ya ta try out, too. An' you better be lookin' yer best. We gon' have quite a few camera drones followin' ya. Now, I told the boys in marketin', I said, the commercials you boys cooked up are real good, but if y'all really wanna sell some guns, get some shots of 'em in action."

"Tell me you're not sending me in there with a prototype."

"Boy, do you really think we'd risk onea our most valuble assets by sendin' 'em into some ancient ruins with a gun we ain't thrown through the wringer? We done field-tested it a few times, and lemme tell you, you gon' posi-tively splatter whatever's down there."

"Thank God. Since when did this company stop being owned by idiots?"

"Can ah tell ya somethin', Axton? Company's always been owned by numbskulls. Armond Dahl is barely sixteen years old. Ain't got a hair on his chest. But, if ya get my meanin', Armond don't run mucha this company. Me an' a few others got hired 'bout five years ago ta clean up the place."

"Smart move."

"That ain't the half of it, boy. Now get ready. That Key fragment ain't gon' collect itself."

Axton smiled to himself as the call ended. He looked across the workshop at a human shape hanging from a crane arm, a tarp thrown over it. Curious, he strode over to it, throwing the tarp off. A childlike grin spread across his face.

"Oh, my God." he said.

* * *

Axton's dropship flew down from the Gethsemane atmosphere, approaching what looked like an industrial digsite. Camera drones hovered around him, getting shots of the calm before the storm.

"The tomb's just down there. Hope yer ready for a fight, boy." the Warden said over Axton's Echo. "When ya get down there, find Maurice. He's got that gun we want ya ta use."

Axton just grinned to himself. He flexed his fingers, watching as the exosuit's metal fingers flexed with him. This wasn't the industrial exoskeletons used by Hyperion's engineers. It wasn't the bulky Maliwan walking tank-suits. In the right hands, it was a lot more dangerous. This suit had lightweight armor plating over a neuro-linked endosuit. When Axton's brain fired neurons telling him to move his arm a certain way, the suit did the same. His limbs were powered by hydraulics. If he needed to, Axton could punch straight through a concrete wall. He was far more mobile, too. He had anti-grav thrusters and magnetic locks on the suit's feet. If he needed to, he could fight in the void of space completely unhindered. He couldn't fly with the thrusters, but he could jump ten feet in the air and land completely unharmed.

But the best part was the rotor cannon on his shoulder.

It wasn't as powerful as his turret, sure, but the fact that he had a small minigun on his shoulder made him feel like he could take on Terramorphous alone and still come out on top. It was auto-aiming, auto-firing, auto-loading. Axton had asked the Warden why he'd never seen suits like it employed in the field. The Warden just told him that each suit cost one hundred and four million dollars.

The dropship landed, and Axton got out, his assault rifle in his hands as he looked arouond. He saw a small tent with the Dahl logo on it and approached it. He saw a few men wearing combat armor. He recognized them as fellow commandos.

"I'm Axton. The Warden sent me. Said I was supposed to talk to Maurice." he said to the men. His exosuit's helmet switched to thermal vision, and he saw two men inside the tent as well as the men outside of it.

"That's me." one of the commandos said. Maurice was a small, wiry man-only about 5'7. He wore sunglasses and sported a beard. Maurice opened up a large black box, grabbing a gun unlike anything Axton had seen before and handing it to him. "This belongs to you."

Axton let his rifle hang at his side, admiring the new firearm in his hands.

"Dahl shotguns never sold real well, but the boys at the top done made some changes to 'em, and I can honestly say I think we got the best scatterguns in the market today. That ain't just me sayin' that 'cause Dahl hired me, neither. I used to work for Jakobs, and Torgue 'fore that. I know my shotguns, and believe you me, you gon' like this one." the Warden said over Axton's Echo.

Under his helmet, Axton grinned.

"Maurice, you're invited to my wedding. Or funeral, whichever comes first. I assume I'm supposed to go that way?" Axton said, gesturing to the dig site. A large structure featuring Eridian architecture jutted out from the ground, unearthed by Dahl's digging machines.

"Yes sir. And if you find any survivors in there, you bring 'em out safe."

Axton looked at him.

"I will. Count on it." he said before heading towards the tomb.

He knew what it felt like to be in Maurice's shoes. To be a soldier, just following orders. Just doing a job. He thought about how many Hyperion troops he'd killed on Pandora. How many soldiers just following orders and just doing a job he'd shot. Judging by all the soldiers, special ops forces, and engineers he'd interrogated, though...he didn't think there were that many. Not on Pandora, at least.

* * *

Axton approached the tomb complex, two camera drones following his every move. There was a pretty clear way in. A massive entrance was in the side of the huge, pyramid-like building, flanked by two ancient Eridian statues. He entered the darkness, switching his helmet optics to night vision.

He didn't make it twenty feet before the floor dropped out from under him.

He fell down into darkness, panicking for a moment before he regained composure. He saw, about thirty feet down, a slope, leading into let further darkness. He landed neatly on it, sliding down the slope and dropping into an enormous dome-like room.

The first thing he saw was a body. Then another, then another.

He looked down at the mangled corpses of the Dahl recon team. He saw severed limbs, heads. Gutted torsos. If he didn't know better, he would have thought Zer0 had done all the killing.

Then, his shoulder cannon saved his life.

It turned, sensing movement behind him. Axton instinctively dove to the side, watching as a light-construct spear passed through the air where he had just been standing. He looked back at what threw it.

It was an Eridian.

He'd only ever seen one before, at Athena's execution. Well, attempted execution. This wasn't the same one, though. It had a greenish tint to it. It clutched two light-construct scimitars, and its mask-face was angled low, as if scowling at him.

"You are not supposed to be here." the alien said, charging at Axton. His shoulder gun fired round after round at the Eridian, but the alien creature projected a forcefield around itself with a wave of its hand, and the bullets just pinged right off of it.

"I don't want to fight you!" Axton said, dodging a two-pronged sword attack.

"Then stop resisting. Your death will be painless if you do. I cannot guarantee such if you continue this foolishness."

"Where's the Key fragment?" Axton said, his anti-grav thrusters boosting him a few meters away from the alien creature.

"You will not defeat me." the alien said, not bothering to answer the question. "And even if you do, your feeble mind could not withstand even the first of the Trials."

"I don't want to have to fight you, but all this cryptic alien shit is really starting to piss me off!" Axton said, ducking and weaving as the alien attempted to disembowel and decapitate him. The camera drones hovered about, dodging and weaving between the two to get the best shots of the action.

Axton pulled the trigger of his shotgun, aiming it for the alien's center mass.

The gun didn't shoot buckshot or solid slugs. It didn't fire plasma or laser blasts. It didn't appear to have an element.

Instead, the gun fired what looked like a miniaturized black hole.

The projectile shattered the alien's forcefield, but the creature somehow avoided the blast. The Eridian disabled his shoulder gun with a well-placed sword thrust. Then, its blades slashed out, destroying the camera drones. The alien kicked Axton to the ground and pounced at him, blades aimed for his heart.

He saw the alien's swords enter his chest.

He felt...

Nothing.

He stared at the meter-long blades sticking out of his chest, the alien who crouched above him seeming equally as confused. Axton reached for one with his left hand, but his fingers just passed right through the blade.

"You are no mere intruder. It seems you are destined to hold the key, Axton the Commando." the alien said, standing up. The light-blades dissolved. The Eridian turned from Axton, walking away from him. Axton stood, running after the alien.

"Wait just a minute. Why didn't I die just then? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful, obviously." Axton shouted.

"My weapons cannot harm those who are fated to enter the Vault of Souls. The Key fragment is yours. When all is done, ensure it is kept safe. I shall come to reclaim it." the alien said, holding out a hand as ashes burned into existence in the air, coming together and forming what looked like an entangling of wires constructed from stone. Eridian runes covered the thing, and it glowed with a soft purple light.

The alien outstretched his arm, offering it to Axton.

"This belongs to you now."

Axton didn't quite know what to say. He just took it. The alien waved a hand, and Axton saw a flash of light before he was back on the surface of Gethsemane, holding the Key fragment and wondering what the hell just happened.

"Warden?" Axton Echoed in.

"You all right, son? We saw them camera drones get destroyed by that freak-a-zoid 'Ridian."

"I'm fine." he replied.

Axton grinned, looking at the Eridian artifact.

"I'm ready to open the Vault."


	7. Back Against The Wall

"What the _hell_ is he doing down there?" Gaige asked, peering down into Sawtooth Cauldron.

"The explanation / is fairly self-evident. / He's fighting unarmed." Zer0 replied.

"Yeah, I know that, but why?"

"Oh, because I dared him to."

Three of the Vault Hunters turned around to face Salvador. Krieg was a few meters away from the group, not paying attention as he idly carved a swear word into a peice of scrap metal with his buzz axe.

Maya was angry. Gaige was flabbergasted. Zer0 was...Zer0.

"What?" Salvador asked innocently.

Maya erupted in a fit of matronly wrath. Salvador felt as if he were a boy being scolded by his abuela again.

"You _DARED_ one of our closest friends to walk into _SAWTOOTH CAULDRON_, steal a very special gun from an extremely dangerous bandit, make as much noise as possible, and do all of this _UNARMED_? What were you _THINKING_?"

Salvador looked at her. In his mind, the answer was as plain as the sun in the sky.

"I thought it would be funny."

* * *

Axton was running for his life. All around him, bullets pinged against scrap metal and threw up dirt as he slid behind cover, mantled over walls, and generally tried to avoid death as well as he could. He felt something whiz through the air right above his head. Running his hand through his hair, he surprisingly didn't feel any blood. He did feel a massive hole in his haircut, though. He looked to his left, judging where the shot came from. A large nomad carrying a spiked shield and an SMG had apparently done the shooting.

_Oh, you motherfucker._ Axton thought.

He dashed up a staircase, shoving a psycho off of it and down into the knee-deep water of the Stilts. A marauder stepped out of a shack in front of him, lighting up the air with assault rifle fire, but Axton slid under the marauder's aim and delivered a swift kick to the kneecap. The bandit fell to the ground in agony as Axton got up, still running as fast as he could.

* * *

"What's the big deal? He hasn't even been shot yet."

"There are at the very least forty bandits down there and I-"

"Fifty-three." Zer0 interjected, watching Axton through his sniper scope.

"There are fifty-three bandits down there, and I'm pretty sure they're not going to stop shooting until he's dead or they're out of bullets. They probably won't stop shooting even after the first one, actually." Maya chided. "I'm honestly shocked he hasn't been hit yet."

"Maybe he just put that absorb shield on." Gaige offered. "That one we got when we fought the Bunker."

"He's got no shield on / Yet no bullets seem to land. / He's really lucky." Zer0 offered.

"He doesn't even have a shield on?" Maya seethed.

"That was part of the dare." Salvador said, instantly regretting his words as Maya turned to him, scowling.

* * *

_At least those dickheads stopped shooting,_ Axton thought. They didn't want to shoot their boss without being able to take credit for it. Axton had finally seen his target. The bandit known as Arbor, who was rumored to have a gun made of solid gold. After avoiding bullets for what seemed like an eternity, an incredibly bright reflection had caught his eye. Unfortunately for Axton, Arbor wasn't giving up his weapon so easily. He held the gun, a Dahl pistol, in his left hand, and a buzz axe in the right. Arbor leapt at Axton, axe whirring as it came towards Axton's neck. He ducked quickly, and the axe bit into a steel girder. He lunged out with both legs, sending the bandit flying. Axton stood, tugging free the buzz axe from the girder.

"Let's make it a fair fight, huh?" he said, smirking at the bandit as he tossed the buzz axe back to him.

"Shut up!" Arbor said, firing the golden gun at him. Axton weaved in a zigzag pattern, throwing off the bandit's already shoddy aim even more. He grabbed Arbor's gun arm, bending the elbow the wrong way as his other hand curled into a fist and introduced itself to Arbor's gut. The bandit stumbled backward and screamed, his shooting arm crippled. Axton put up a boxer's stance, pressing his advantage.

_Man, this takes me back to that campaign on Golgotha._ Axton thought. No ammo for three days and a horde of death row inmates hopped up on experimental combat drugs. He felt bad for whoever had to clean the place up afterwards. Axton gave him a right hook to the jaw, then a kick to the chest. The bandit was clearly outmatched. Axton let his guard down, moving his feet in a fancy imitation of a boxer's warm up routine.

* * *

"Is he seriously taunting that bandit guy right now? Honestly, he kind of deserves to get shot after a stunt like that." Gage said idly.

"He's pressing his luck. / He's acting like he wants it. / How have they all missed?" Zer0 offered.

_He is such a moron,_ Maya thought. _Why couldn't I have found somebody who likes to sit down and read? I doubt he's even heard of Catcher in the Rye. I doubt he knows what rye even is._

Salvador sat on a nearby rock, still recovering from Maya's scolding as he watched Krieg draw more buzz axe art.

* * *

"Ding ding ding!" Axton said, grinning as he moved in on the bandit again. "That's the bell, dummy. You ready for this?" he taunted. The dazed bandit leader could hardly throw his hands up to protect himself as Axton gave him one right under his chin, lifting the bandit up a foot off the ground and sending him crashing onto the floor. Axton quickly bent down, stole the bandit's gun, and ran like hell.

He leapt off the shanty-town structure the bandits had made, landing smoothly on his feet as the bandits started shooting again.

_Where's that guy?_ he thought, eyes moving over the nearby bandits, scanning for the big nomad who'd shot his hair earlier. _There you are._

_A_xton swiftly changed course, a wide grin on his face as he ducked and weaved, avoiding the bandits' snap-fired shots. One of them threw a grenade at him. Axton seized the moment, snagging the explosive out of the mud and hurling it at the big nomad. The blast exploded harmlessly off of his shield, but the big bandit stumbled back, and that was all Axton needed to drop a few quick bursts into the bandit's chest.

Then, his work done, he ran like hell again.

* * *

"Come on, Maya. It was totally worth it. Do you even see this gun?"

"I see it, Axton."

"I don't really think you do. Because if you saw it, you would realize how incredibly badass it is, and how incredibly badass, not to mention brave, skillful, handsome, and charming I am."

"Axton, you ran into the most dangerous bandit camp on Pandora without even a shield just to get a stupid little gun."

"A gun made out of solid gold."

"A stupid little gun."

Axton grinned at the woman sitting across the table from him. "You're so pretty when you're mad." The dim pink lights of Moxxi's bar shone down on the pair, highlighting their forms with velvet.

Maya crossed her arms across her chest. "Axton, now is not the time. That move you pulled was stupid."  
"Maya, I'm fine."

"You could have been killed."

"We could all be killed at almost every moment of the day."

"That's different."

"Not really. We do tend to spend most of our time getting shot at. How is it much different?"

"We weren't there to back you up. You also didn't have a shield on."

"I had the situation completely under control."

"Your new haircut says otherwise."

"Maya, trust me. I knew what I was doing." Axton replied. He paused a moment, swirling around the ice in his drink. "I think I'm getting bored, Maya."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I feel like...like there's nothing else to do. I mean, it feels like we go to the same places, do the same things, over and over again. What else is there to do? I mean, I just don't know what else this planet has to offer. I think that Hector guy made me realize that. We beat Handsome Jack. We found that treasure in the desert. You guys all did Hammerlock's thing while I did Torgue's tournament. What else is there?"

"Honestly, I think most of us feel the same. I came here to find out more about being a Siren, and I've learned nothing so far." Maya replied. "Do you want to leave, Axton?"

"I mean...I don't want to leave you, or anybody else." he said. "But every day I feel the need to get out of here. Explore something. Explore some new planets."

"I want to go back home." Maya agreed. "Without me, Athenas is...almost completely unprotected. I'm one of the few people there who hasn't taken a vow of nonviolence."

"Oh." said Axton, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "So that's it? Just...living on Athenas?"

"Yeah. I have to." Maya replied. "Otherwise, who knows what could happen? I don't want some corporation taking over my home."

"Fair point. I don't know if I could ever settle down, honestly." Axton said. "I mean, I've been on the move since I was sixteen years old. Planet to planet, campaign to campaign."

She chuckled. "You make it sound like I'm going to go soft."

"You? Going soft? Not likely." Axton said. "So we're just going to...call it quits?"

"I don't want to leave you just as much as you don't want to leave me, Axton." Maya said. "But I have to do this."

"I know you do." Axton said. "That doesn't mean I have to like it, though."

Maya took Axton's hand, interlacing her fingers in his. "It's alright, Ax. We'll find each other."

He smiled, his eyes meeting hers across the table. "I hope so."

* * *

Farewells were brief. Four Hyperion ships, courtesy of a recently blackmailed CEO Blake, sat in front of Ellie's garage in the Dust. Lilith, Brick, Mordecai, Tina, Hammerlock, each of the Vault Hunters' friends wore bittersweet smiles as they said goodbye to four of their friends.

Salvador and Krieg, who were remaining on Pandora, gave their farewells to Gaige. Maya was hugging Marcus. Zer0 faced Axton.

"It's been fun, buddy. I hope I see you around sometime."

"The same to you, / my commando compadre. / I shall miss this place." the assassin replied.

Axton spread his arms, moving closer to Zer0.

"Come on, man. Bring it in."

Zer0 didn't move. Axton stood there, awaiting a hug awkwardly.

"Let's go. Don't make this weird."

Zer0 still didn't move.

"Ouch, man." Axton said, extending a hand. "Handshake?"

Zer0 took his hand, flashing him a :'-) on his helmet.

"You are a good man. / I'm proud to call you my friend. / I wish you the best."

Zer0 tugged Axton closer to him, continuing in a lower voice. He tilted his head towards Maya, who now embraced a rather surprised Zed.

"You love her, don't you? / Invite me to the wedding. / I'll be the best man."

Axton flashed Zer0 a smile. "Nothing gets past you, does it? I'll keep you in the loop."

Next, Axton said goodbye to Gaige. He hugged the teenager, noticing her fighting back tears.

"It's alright, kiddo. If you ever need anything, you give me a call, alright?" he said.

Gaige smiled, putting on a stiff upper lip. "As if I would need your help and not the other way around." she replied.

"Oh, be quiet, you big dork." he replied, messing up her red hair.

Next was Salvador. The little man lifted Axton in the air, and Axton felt like his ribs were going to break from the sheer force of the hug.

Axton and Krieg then looked at each other, Axton reaching a hand up towards the big man and resting it on his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy." he said as the lunatic stared down at him. "I'll miss you, man."

"Hate is love. Sadness is joy." Krieg replied. "What joyful music we've made!"

Axton flashed the psycho a smile. "You can say that again."

* * *

After Zer0 and Gaige had taken their shuttles and left, after everyone had gone back to Sanctuary, after the sun had set and the Dust went quiet, the Siren and the Commando stood under the Pandoran moon, embracing each other tightly. Axton held her with one arm, the other hand tangled in her blue hair.

"Don't get yourself killed, you big idiot." Maya said.

"Would you be mad at me if I did?" he replied.

"You have no idea." she replied.

They kissed, eyes shut and arms wrapped tight around each other. Axton pulled away, cupping her face in his hands.

"Maya, I'm sorry I never said this before, but I think..." he said, trying to put his thoughts into a sentence. "I think I might love you a little bit."

"I think I might love you a little bit too." she said, grabbing his hand as she pulled out of the embrace. "Come see me on Athenas some time, will you?" she asked.

"Count on it." he said, flashing her a bittersweet look as they turned from each other, boarding their ships, trying to keep the other out of their thoughts as they sought out their own uncertain destinies.


End file.
